Police & Policymakers Need to Stop (Mal)Practicing on Black Bodies
My brother, Kiese Laymon, is the dopest writer in the game. He likes Andre 3000 more that I like, and I like the Wu more than he does. I’m a Brooklyn dude who is biased to NYC boom bap style rap music. He’s a Mississippi guy who doesn’t concede to the braggadocio of us Northerners. In other words, we disagree like brothers do. One thing we don’t disagree about, however, is the importance of practice. I got a passage of his on my wall in my Bedstuy studio apartment. The 595-wo
Beyond Reform of Law Enforcement
Three months ago I moderated a panel at Brooklyn Borough Hall where over 150 boys from Brownsville, Brooklyn, ages 12–18, followed by a dialogue about policing in their communities. A 13-year old boy stood up to ask the audience a question –that he seemed to be intensely asking himself: “Why are the there so much police in my neighborhood? Why are they always bothering people? I just don’t understand. It don’t make sense. Why it gotta be like this?” He was only 13-years old,
